But who was Davidson?  This film reveals all about the flamboyant classicist and diplomat turned food writer and historian.  What distinguishes Davidson’s books is not only their comprehensiveness but the precision, humour and beauty of Davidson’s prose, all of which reflects the personality of a man who was loved and admired in equal measure.

Davidson’s career as a diplomat in the 60s and 70s – particularly in Tunis and Laos – opened up a whole new exotic world of food, first to him and then, through his hobby of writing, to the wider world.  Davidson died in 2003 but those who knew him best are on hand in this documentary to capture his personality and story.

The Oxford Companion was the consuming passion of Davidson’s later life after he retired from the Foreign Office in 1975 and he had personally tried some of the most unusual entries.  Anything and everything that has ever been cooked and eaten can be found in its pages – there are entries on aardvarks, wasps, dragonflies and even cannibalism. But, perhaps surprisingly for a man who was so immersed in culinary matters, he was a less than gifted cook and had simple tastes.